Colombia’s Supreme Court decided Thursday to end an investigation against the Inspector General, Alejandro Ordoñez, over his alleged role in a bribery scandal, according to Colombian newspaper El Espectador.
Ordoñez was being investigated as part of an elaborate bribery scandal that sought to win support for a 2006 referendum that allowed former President Alvaro Uribe to run for a second term, known as the “yidispolitica” scandal.
The inspector general had allegedly altered investigations and ignored or ommitted evidence in legal trials against two ex-ministers who had been charged with bribery in the re-election scandal. The two ex-ministers, who were being investigated for abuse of public office in the scandal, were both acquitted.
The investigation against the Ordoñez had to be called off after it was decided that there was not enough evidence linking the inspector general to the scandal.
A preliminary investigation into the Ordoñez’s alleged involvement in the “yidispolitica” scandal was ordered by the prosecutor general in 2010.
The term “yidispolitica” scandal refers to former congresswoman Yidis Medina, who accepted a bribe in return for voting in favor of the 2006 reform to allow Uribe to run for a second term. Medina’s vote was decisive in the passing of the referendum.
